Understanding Lavender
by luvscharlie
Summary: Lavender Brown and Ron Weasley's snogging sessions in the Gryffindor common room were like a punch in the stomach to Hermione Granger. Parvati Patil makes her see things in a whole new light.


_Understanding Lavender by luvscharlie_

She couldn't stand watching them paw one another any longer. The tears refused to stay pooled in her eyes and had started to slip down her cheeks before she could exit the common room. She only hoped no one had noticed. She grabbed her things for a shower and left her dorm room. The girls' showers were the safest place for a good cry. There was no chance of running into Harry or Ron there, and Lavender was far too preoccupied with—she really just couldn't think about that anymore.

* * *

When she finally emerged from the shower after a good, long cry, she was startled by an unexpected voice.

"I was becoming concerned that you might be trying to drown yourself in there."

"Parvati! You startled me."

"Sorry about that. It took me a while to find you."

The pretty girl with dark hair and eyes was sitting on the counter next to the sink, and had apparently been waiting for her, though Hermione could not imagine why. They had never been close, and Parvati was, after all, Lavender Brown's best friend.

She was jerked from her thoughts by Parvati's voice. "Then I started thinking about where I'd go if I needed a good cry and I thought you might be in here."

"I wasn't—" The red, swollen eyes in the mirror told her that there was really no point in denying that she had been crying.

"I guess you wonder why I'm here. I mean, it's not as if we've ever talked much before."

"So why are you here?"

"To the point, aren't you? Fair enough, I guess. I wanted you to know, she doesn't mean it. To hurt you, I mean. She's not with him just to hurt you."

"If you've come to defend Lavender's acting like a common slag, save your breath. I'm not interested."

Parvati turned to walk away, or at least that's what she'd thought, when she heard the lock on the door click into place.

"I didn't. The way she's throwing herself at him doesn't make me any happier than it makes you."

"Oh!" She hadn't expected that.

"But it's not exactly a fair fight, is it, Hermione?"

"It's not a fight at all. As far as I'm concerned, she can have him."

"Well, you're partially correct. It's not a fight, but she'll never _have_ him. He's belonged to you for far too long. And somewhere, deep down inside, she knows. She's using what little ammunition she has in a fight that you won long ago. She just isn't ready to concede defeat quite yet."

"Why are you telling me this?" Hermione sank down onto the cool tile of the floor and hugged her knees against her chest.

Parvati crossed the room and sat down beside her. "I saw you crying when you left the common room. I'm sorry it hurts you to see them together. Don't call her a slag. She's not, you know. She loves him. He's not just someone to pass the time. She _really_ loves him, and I hate that he's stringing her along the way he is. Her body is all she thinks she has left to fight you with, and she's desperate to hang on to him, no matter the cost."

"I don't know why you think he wants me. We can barely say a civil word to one another these days."

"Because you don't see the way he looks at you when he knows you're not watching. It's you he wants, Hermione. Lavender's simply available." She stood to go. "I won't bother you anymore. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, and at least try to make you see things from her perspective."

"Parvati," Hermione said, "I'm glad we talked. Thank you. It means a lot that you came to find me."

Parvati nodded and smiled.

"I've been so jealous of her. I'm still jealous that she has what I want so desperately. But now, I feel—I don't know—sad too, I guess."

"I don't know from personal experience, Hermione, but my mother always said there is nothing that hurts so much as loving someone and knowing they don't love you in return. Sadly, I think Lavender will be able to tell me just how that feels very soon."

"You're a good friend."

"I'm your friend too, if you ever need one."

"Thank you."

Parvati's hand rested on the door handle, and she seemed to be pondering whether or not she should say something. "I know I have no right to ask you this, Hermione, but when it happens—when he hurts her—and he will, could you not rub it in her face? I know she's done that to you, and you have every right to reciprocate, but--it's just she's going to be hurting enough, and I'll be the one left to pick up the pieces when Ron shatters her heart, so--"

"I won't. It hurts too much. I know how hard it is to see him with her, so if that happens, I won't."

"Thank you."

* * *

Hermione had a lot to think about when she pulled the curtains on her four-poster that night. Seeing Lavender Brown through Parvati's eyes made Hermione wonder if she and the girl were so different, after all. It was much harder, now, to fault her simply for doing what she, herself, had done: fall in love with Ron Weasley.

She never really understood how, but it seemed whenever she needed a female's ear to bend during the remainder of their sixth year, Parvati always showed up in the girls' showers so the two of them could talk…because that's what friends did.

* * *

_A/N: The requirement for this drabble was that it be Hermione-centric and revolve around the theme "best girlfriend"._


End file.
